New York panel: Saratoga County judge jailed people without a hearing

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has called for removal of a Saratoga County Family Court judge who recently resigned while disciplinary charges were still pending for jailing people while denying their rights to a hearing and an attorney.

In a ruling released Friday, the commission said that in four cases Judge Gilbert Abramson jailed people for periods ranging from 21 to 268 days after he failed to comply with constitutional and statutory mandates guaranteeing their “fundamental rights.” Formal removal, subject to review by the Court of Appeals, would keep Abramson from future office.

Abramson, who lost a Republican primary, resigned last month. He was a judge for 10 years and before that he worked for the state Senate. His lawyer, Robert Roche, said the errors were essentially technical, mainly regarding his not repeating rights advice already given in earlier proceedings. “He did what he thought was right.”

The commission cited six cases where Abramson acknowleged summarily sending people to jail for nonpayment of support. It noted he’d been warned previously about not advising people they had a right to an attorney and cited another complaint that he made inappropriate suggestive comments to a woman because of the T-shirt she wore in court.

“There were no people who lost any substantive rights,” Roche said. “There were people who spent time in jail. There were a couple guys who wanted to get away from their parole officers or their wives.”

Roche said he and commission counsel Robert Tembeckjian had previously signed a stipulation in which Abramson, who is close to retirement, had agreed not to seek further office. He questioned why the commission took this extra step and whether it was political or vindictive.

Tembeckjian said he didn’t believe the commission decision to reject the stipulation and issue the ruling was in any way politically motivated. “It seems to me the commission believed there was a useful public purpose to apprise and educate the judiciary and public as to the kind of misconduct that is serious enough to warrant a judge’s removal,” he said.

The decision was unanimous by the nine commission members present, mostly attorneys and judges.

Since 1978, the commission has issued 161 determinations of removal against judges in New York. Out of 91 total challenges, the Court of Appeals has upheld commission sanctions in 75 cases. The appeals court has upheld 66 removals and reduced 10 to lesser punishments of censure or admonition.